Taylor Halversen

Reporter

Taylor Halversen is a reporter, engineer and occasional co-host for UPR news. She recently graduated summa cum laude from Utah State University with bachelor’s degrees in Communication Studies and Liberal Arts, and worked for UPR as a reporting intern for a year before being hired as a reporter.

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A new study by the Utah Department of Health shows that out-of-hospital births doubled from 1990 to 2012, with 2,595 children being born at home and 1,098 at unlicensed birthing centers between 2010 and 2012.

Holly Richardson with the Utah Midwives Organization said women have increasingly chosen non-hospitalized births for financial reasons and because they want reduced medical interventions in the birth process.

“The number of interventions and subsequent potential complications from those interventions are decreased significantly,” Richardson said.

Last month, the state’s Prison Relocation Commission announced its final three choices for the proposed site change of the Utah State Prison. Eagle Mountain, Tooele and Salt Lake elected officials and residents are now voicing opposition to the selection of their areas for consideration.

Tooele Mayor Patrick Dunlavy said relocating to the area will stifle Tooele and Grantsville’s economic futures, taking away valuable land from planned future developments. He also said the city was not amply consulted before Tooele’s placement on the relocation list went public.

The Utah Department of Transportation publicly launched their new Click ‘n Fix app this week, giving the public an opportunity to report maintenance issues on state-controlled roadways from their smart devices.

According to UDOT Communications Systems Administrator Becky Parker, the new app allows residents to report problems such as potholes to be repaired or problematic traffic lights.

“We have over 6,000 miles of road and we only have 630 employees taking care of all those miles," Parker said. "So, we’re asking the public to help be our eyes and ears and help us report when there are maintenance needs and service requests; the app allows them to submit that information to us."

UPR’s Taylor Halversen traveled with members of Cache Valley’s American Festival Chorus as they caroled to assisted living centers and charity events around Logan City on Dec. 13. What began as a local news coverage opportunity turned into a heartwarming experience for those being served, spectators and performers, including an unsuspecting UPR reporter. Listen below for the full story.

The thoughts of one Utah professor will now be paired with the likes of Hawking, Goodall and Gorbachev in a new conversation about global sustainability.

Dr. Joseph Tainter of Utah State University was asked to contribute to Global Chorus, a 365-statement compilation by Todd MacLean that brings together thoughts of leading minds on how to solve environmental problems facing the earth and human species.

Tainter said he was chosen to contribute because MacLean wanted the perspective of a variety of writers.

Utah’s SAGE exam is used to measure student proficiency in core subjects. In 2014 it showed that only 38.7 percent of Utah students were proficient in math and 43.7 percent in science.

To increase proficiency in these subjects, this year Cache County School District applied for and received a grant from the STEM Action Center. The district put the grant to use by providing every student in grades two through twelve a subscription to an artificial intelligence-based math technology program called ALEKS.

The program assesses a student’s knowledge to give individualized tutoring for what they are ready to learn, in addition to classroom instruction.

The Humane Society of Utah is celebrating reaching their 2014 pet placement goals a month early this week.

Jamie Usry, director of developments at the Humane Society, said the group reached their goal of adopting out 9,000 dogs and cats, and are also set to meet their aim of spaying and neutering 10,000 animals later this month.

Usry said the organization opened a new dog area in May called The Wait is Over, Rover dog adoptions to save the lives of more dogs in their care.

"Five, four, three, two, one, and liftoff, at dawn! The dawn of Orion and a new era of American space exploration,” NASA commentators exclaimed Friday morning at the inaugural launch of the Orion spacecraft.

The craft finally took to the skies Friday after a postponed launch. It was scheduled to take off early Thursday, but due to reported gusty winds and a malfunctioning fuel valve, the mission was grounded until conditions cleared.

Orion circled the earth twice, reaching about 20,000 mph during its journey back to earth.

Early Thursday morning, NASA will test fly a new vehicle designed to carry astronauts into space—for the first time since 1981.

Utah’s NASA ambassador Patrick Wiggins said the Orion spacecraft will orbit the earth two times then re-enter the atmosphere, plunging into the Pacific Ocean hours after its launch. Though this initial trip will only take the spacecraft 3,600 miles away from earth, the ultimate goal of the craft is to, decades into the future, land on Mars.

“I’m really looking forward to seeing the first humans get to Mars. It’s not going to happen tomorrow, but it’s going to happen eventually,” Wiggins said. “So that’s basically what this thing is, it’s a way to get humans way out into space."

Every year well-meaning individuals leave food out for wild animals, particularly deer, attempting to supplement their winter diet. But the Utah Department of Wildlife Resources says the seeming kindness can do much more harm than good.

The diet of deer is fragile and can be harmed by slight changes said Chris Schulze, conservation officer with the DWR.

“The wrong food at the wrong time of year can be hazardous and even kill deer; it wreaks havoc on their digestive systems,” Schulze said.

Updated 10:06 p.m., 12/1/14. During interrogation, the 16-year-old male arrested for possession of a firearm at Fremont High School admitted to planning to shoot a particular student, then open fire on the rest of the school. He is being charged with Class B Possession of a firearm by a minor, Class A possession of a firearm in a restricted area, and Class A possession of a weapon with intent to assault.

Police were alerted Monday of a student possessing a loaded handgun at Fremont High School in Plain City.

A student had reportedly seen a peer with the gun and tipped off the school resource officer, who detained the subject. No shots were fired, according to police, and the student was taken into custody.

Though the student’s intentions remain unclear, Lt. Lane Findlay with the Weber County Sheriff’s Office said it is unlikely they were friendly.

An order signed Monday by U.S. District Judge Dale Kimball means the state will pay attorneys’ fees for the eight plaintiffs in the Evans v. Utah case, which addressed the legal status of couples wed following the initial ruling that Utah’s ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional.

The plaintiffs’ attorneys were seeking nearly $200,000 for their services. However, after an agreement was reached on the fee issue, the state will pay $95,000 to the attorneys.

The 230-member American Fork High School marching band will join only five other high school bands and two college bands in the 2014 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on Thursday.

The band’s director John Miller said this is the second time the band has had the opportunity to play at the prestigious venue.

“They can only invite bands back every seven years. So, they sent me an email and said, ‘If you’re interested, would you please apply again. We can’t guarantee you a position, but… we’ll take a look at it.’ So we did, and to our surprise they offered us another spot in the Macy’s parade this year,” Miller said. “They only take the very top, top cream of the crop for this thing, so it was quite an honor again.”

Utah politicians had a lot to say after President Barack Obama’s executive action on immigration Thursday, in which he announced his support of deferring deportation for millions of undocumented immigrants.

Utah Governor Gary Herbert said in a statement that he was disturbed the president would take such divisive and unilateral action. Herbert said the broken immigration system is compromising national security and must be addressed by congress.

Every five years, the U.S. Geological Survey publishes a water usage report showing how the nation fares in water consumption. The 2010 report was published earlier this month.

In conjunction with the release of the report, media have touted that Utah is the worst in the nation for water consumption, but Molly Maupin, a hydrologist with the USGS, said it depends on the category and how the data is being compared.

Volunteers of America unveiled plans last week to build a new resource center for homeless youth in Salt Lake City.

Zach Bale, chief development officer for the project, said the new 30-bed overnight shelter will serve the immediate needs of youth, but also will include services to help those being served to overcome their circumstances.

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“We knew that both having a safe overnight shelter has been really important, but maybe even more important [is] expanded education and employment support for the youth,” Bale said. “We’re going to have a lot more space, classroom space, to provide those types of services.”

Egyptian farmers grow crops along the fertile banks of the Nile, providing necessary resources for the surrounding communities, but also generating significant waste from crops such as cotton, bananas and rice.

“You have two choices: you either burn it or plow it into the soil. But, if they plow it they risk disease and other things, so it’s easier to burn it,” said Utah State University professor of biological engineering Foster Agblevor.

He said when the waste products are burned, acidic gases are released into the atmosphere, eventually settling on and decomposing the limestone pyramids and other historical monuments.

Two environmental protection groups are calling out the Bureau of Land Management for alleged misconduct in building a natural gas pipeline near Moab.

Landon Newell with the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance said Fidelity Exploration & Production divided the project into smaller venture proposals to break up the health and environmental analysis of the pipeline.

On Monday, officials from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People announced they have requested an independent investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice into Darrien Hunt’s death.

NAACP officials said during a press conference that race played a factor in the shooting of the 22-year-old African American male by two Caucasian police officers. They claim improper use of fatal force could be a violation of Hunt’s civil rights.